Tag: John Hurt

Doctor Who Review – 50th Anniversary Specials

Yes, I know, we already celebrated Doctor’s Who’s 60th anniversary a few years ago. It’s all a bit wibbly wobbly timey wimey. But this epic post for the bank holiday weekend is part of my ongoing series of reviews for all the series in the modern era, as I’ve been rewatching them in order. Recently I wrote about Series 7 (Part 1 & Part 2), and the cliffhanger at the end of it directly leads into the 50th anniversary specials, so naturally I wanted to move straight on to those.

The 2013 specials mark the end of Matt Smith’s stellar reign as the 11th Doctor. Some people had doubts about him when he took over from David Tennant – who also appears in the anniversary story, along with John Hurt as the War Doctor – but he really made the role his own, and showed he was capable of everything from chirpy humour to dark intensity. So he’s been very much missed ever since the brilliant send-off he had in these specials.

Meanwhile Jenna Coleman (who dropped the “Louise” from her name from this point onwards) continues to be a wonderful companion as Clara Oswald, with the mystery of why she’s the ‘Impossible Girl’ having been resolved at the end of Series 7. And there’s the welcome return of Billie Piper as a version of Rose that we’ve never seen before.

The score by Murray Gold is sublime as usual, so I’ll be picking out some of my favourite pieces from his soundtrack album in these reviews. And of course everything was overseen by showrunner Steven Moffat, who somehow managed to fit it all in alongside Series 7 of Doctor Who and Series 3 of Sherlock. Plus there was a biographical drama about the origins of the show, written by Mark Gatiss and featuring music by Edmund Butt, that I’ll also be reviewing in this post.

Altogether there’s a lot to mention from the Blu-ray set, along with additional stuff that wasn’t included in that release, and as always I’ve put together an extensive playlist of clips, behind the scenes material, music, interviews, reactions, conventions and much more. So I hope you enjoy celebrating this key milestone in the show’s history with me.

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The Sweeney – 50th Anniversary Review

Five decades on from its initial broadcast, The Sweeney remains one of the all-time classic cop shows, with one of the greatest theme tunes as well (by Harry South). Back in the 1970s, it was notable for its gritty realism, action sequences and violence, and for shining a light on the imperfections within the police force, from innocent mistakes and failed investigations to casual rule-breaking and outright corruption. British police dramas had largely shied away from the more illicit and brutal aspects of the job until then, but this tackled them head-on, so it really stood out.

Created by Ian Kennedy Martin, it starred the magnificent John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan alongside the equally brilliant Dennis Waterman as Detective Sergeant George Carter, with Garfield Morgan as their boss Frank Haskins, all of whom are sadly no longer with us. Their characters worked for the Flying Squad – known in Cockney rhyming slang as Sweeney Todd, hence the show’s title – and were normal, vulnerable human beings with their own problems like the rest of us, rather than flawless superhero crime-solvers. They didn’t always get the results they wanted, and when they did it wasn’t always in a tidy or strictly legal manner. So they were relatable to the audience in many ways, even if they were stronger and more courageous than most of us. And in amongst all of the drama they had occasional moments of humour too, as in a dark job like that you need moments of light relief.

There was an impressive roster of guest stars as well, with a lot of current or future big names from stage and screen popping up in many of the episodes, giving the show even more gravitas and credibility. It’s a further testament to the quality of the writing that many of them were tempted to get involved in the first place. It was a real mark of pride to have The Sweeney on one’s CV.

At long last the show has now been remastered and released in its entirety on Blu-ray, with 50th anniversary editions having gone on sale between June 2025 and February 2026 for Series 1, 2, 3 & 4, all of which I’ve bought to replace my old DVDs (so nothing here is gifted or sponsored). It’s been the perfect excuse for me to revisit the show, having not watched it for quite a while. So here are my brief reviews of all the episodes and extras from the box sets, and I hope you enjoy!

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